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Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements31 December 2024202ADVANCING AHEAD24.CASH AND BANK BALANCESAs at 31 December 2024As at 31 December 2023US$%u2019000US$%u2019000Cash and cash in bank785,458915,657Non-pledged fixed time deposits with a maturity period over three months1,7143,850Restricted bank balances125,85881,429Pledged bank deposits (note 25)949632913,9791,001,568The Renminbi (%u201cRMB%u201d) is not freely convertible into other currencies, however, under China%u2019s Foreign Exchange Control Regulations and Administration of Settlement, Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange Regulations, the Group is permitted to exchange RMB for other currencies through banks authorised to conduct foreign exchange business.Cash at banks earns interest at floating rates based on daily bank deposit rates. The bank balances and deposits are deposited with creditworthy banks with no recent history of default. The carrying amounts of the cash and bank balances approximate to their fair values.Asat31December2024,thefixeddepositsofUS$1,714,000(2023:US$3,850,000)hadamaturityperiodof91to365days. The balance as at 31 December 2024 was principal-protected and carried the rate of return of 4.92% to 5.01% per annum.The pledged bank deposits at 31 December 2024 was denominated in KRW and JPY (2023: JPY). Pledged bank deposits earn interest at interest rates stipulated by the respective financial institutions. The pledged bank deposits represent the amounts pledged to secure bank and other borrowings granted to the Group (note 25).As at 31 December 2024 and 2023, cash and bank balances and deposits of the Group and the Company were considered to be of low credit risk and thus the Group has assessed that the ECL for cash and bank balances was immaterial under the 12-month expected credit loss method.